Lee County homeless numbers stay nearly static

May 18, 2013

Janet Bartos of the Lee County Homeless Coalition

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Lee County’s homeless population remained almost unchanged from last year according to a January survey of people living on the street.

The count indicated 848 people were homeless in January, compared with 842 for the same time in 2012. The numbers were released Friday by the Lee County Homeless Coalition.

The numbers are at best imprecise, however, officials said.

“Although there has been a small increase from the 2012 count, it is difficult, if not impossible, to obtain a true count of the entire homeless population,” said Janet Bartos, executive director of the Lee County Homeless Coalition, “This is due to the lack of fixed addresses and the transient nature of the homeless population, and thus, the census will always be only an estimate of the full population of homeless residents in Lee County.”

The point-in-time count is required for a $2.14 million grant Lee received from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in 2012.

The actual number of homeless people in the county is likely as high as 2,820, said Bartos. That number counts the people registered for various services through the Lee County Homeless Management Information System database.

Among the 848 counted by homeless coalition staff and volunteers, 193 were considered to be chronically homeless. They are defined by HUD as an unaccompanied homeless person with a disabling condition who has either continuously been homeless for a year or more or has had at least four episodes of homelessness in the past three years.

Also among the 848 documented, 54 percent reported having a disabling condition and 52 were families that included 68 children. Veterans made up for 8 percent of those surveyed, officials said.